Action for player pianos



April 7, 1925. 1,533,052.

C. A. WHEATLEY ACTION FOR PLAYER PIANOS Filed Nov. 13, 1920 7 I &1

' Z BY mgaw a p are. 1. a;

CHARLES A.

ACTIQN PIANOS.

Application filed November 13, 1920.

To (ZZZ 10/ m it may cmirgcmi:

Be it known that l, CFVZ-EES A. WHEAT- LEY. a citizen of the Unit States, residing at Jetiersonville. in the county of Clark and State of Income. have invented new and useful Improvements in Actions for Player Pianos oi: which the following is a specification. v

.his invention relates to improvements in the construction of pneumatic actions tor player pianos and has for its object the provision of an; action so constructed that all the individual valve members are separat v detachably mounted beneath and associated with the tube rail, the advantage of the specific structure being the. in the event that repairs to the mechanism .Ptective va lve member may be removed ely or individually without in any my involving any disturbance of the other valve members and thereby mal ing a great saving of time in repair work.

An important object is the provision ot' an action of this character in which all the valve members are duplicates of a certain unit so that all the valve members will be interchangeable.

Another object is the provision of mechanism in which the pneumatics are connectel with the wippen instead of with the abstract as is the common arrangement.

an additional object. is the provision ot oevice of this chi .cter which will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture and installation, highly efiicient in use, durable in service. and a general improvement in the art.

With the above and other objects and advantages in View, the invention consists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which i i V Figure 1 is a cross sectional view through a player action showing one of my valve members in position,

Figure 2 is a detail sectionalview showing the valve members separated from the remainder of the device.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which is illustrated a single motor pneumatic the numeral 1 designates a bellows having a movable lift 2 which carries an arm 3 to which is connected a threaded rod 4 slidable through a guide 5 and con nected with a block 6 having a felt face 7 are necessarv the Serial No. 423.925.

engaging the wippen 8 to which is connectedthe abstract 9 connected with a capstan screw 10 carried by the key 11. The

neral '12 designates the stationary lift The tube rail extends at right angles to the rear wall or" the front member 14. and the stationary lift 12 of the bellows extends in spaced parallel relation to thetube rail 15 which provides a rectangular space between these three members.

The rail 15 is provided, of course, at the 'itervals with passages 17 in the it ends ed ior connection with a trackerbar and from the rear ends of which extend tubes 19. The front bar 14 is of course provided with passages 20 which communicate with l k, 1' space above referred to and with theinterior ct each bellows member through hole 12. The position of the movable lift 2 with respect to the stationary lift 12 may be regulated by means a nut on the rod 4. I i

lit is of course necessary to provide a plurality of valve members, one for each note or hammer of the piano mechanism and one or such valve members is indicated broadly by the numeral 24. Each valve member 24 comprises a rectangular block 25 an upper late 26 and a bottom plate or block 27. ljhe top plate 26 is termed substantially at ts center with a hole 28 and the block 25 s formed at its upper portion with a pas- 29 and at its lower portion with a vacuum chamber 30 a hole 31 being formed in the wall separating this passage and chamber. The lower block or plate 27 is formed with a passage 32, one end of which leads into the chamber 30 through a constricted port and the other end of which carries a tube 33 connected with the tube 19, as by rubber tubing. Atone end of the chamber 30 is a hole 30 communicating and registering with a hole D leading into the air chest C whereby a vacuum may be termed in the chamber.

Fitting within the hole 31 is a metallic valve seat 34 upon the upper end of which seats a fiber valve 35 from which depends a stem 36 passing through the seat 34 and through a guide opening in a bracket 37,

of which lead tubes 18 adapting at its center a reinforcing member t/ecured between the block 25 and lower plate or block 27 is a diaphragm 38 carry- 3i) adapted to engage the lower end of the stem 36 The valve assembly may be held in the valve box by any suitable means such. as the screws S.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The normal position of the valve is as shown in the drawings, but when a perforation of the traveling note sheet, not shown, registers with the tracker bar aperture with which the tube 18 is connected, the resulting impulse of air through the channel 32 fills the space below the dia phragm 38 and lifts the diaphragm and con sequently the stem 36 which will result in lifting the valve 35 off its seat 3% so thatit will close the opening 28 in the top plate 26. The interior of the motor pneumatic is thereby cut all from the outer air and connected with the vacuum chamber 30, resulting in the collapse of the movable leaf of the bellows and the operation of the corresponding \vippen and consequently the key.

The essential feature of the pres :at lTl11 tion: is the fact that the entire valve member formed by the block 25 and plates or blocks 26 and 27, with all the associated parts, Constitutes a separate unit or entity which may be removed from or replaced within the rectangular opening defined by the tube rail, front bar, and stationary leaf without in any way interfering with the other units, any suitable screws or the like being provided for holding each valve ine1nher in position.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that I have thus provided a simply coir structed and yet highly etlicient motor pneumatic mechanism which will be a great time and labor saver when repairs are necessary to a player action.

lVhile l have shown and described l he preferred embodiment of my invention, it of course to be understood that reserve th. right to maize such changes in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts as will not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

In a pneumatic action for player pianos, a tube rail formed with passages each connected with a tracker bar opening, a front bar formed with passages, a bellows including a stationary leaf secured below said front bar and a movable leaf connected with said first named leaf, the second named pas sages communicating with the interior of the bellows member, and a series of valve members all similarly disposed against said front bar and between the tube rail. and stationary leaf, said valve members being indi vidually removable and replaceable and each being provided with a diaphragm actuated valve.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES A. V i HE ATLE Y.

Ill) 

